Après-bungee

Here’s a question from Colm from London:
What happens after a bungee jump? You throw yourself off a bridge with an elastic band tied to your feet, then at the end you’re left down at the bottom, dangling. Does someone come and get you from there? Or are you slowly winched up back to the bridge? I’d find the latter much worse than the actual jump itself.

Readers, you’re going to have to jump into the comments to answer this question. None of us has ever done a bungee jump. Considering Olly managed to dislocate his shoulder walking to meet his ski instructor for his first lesson – not even from skiing itself! – if any of us attempted a bungee jump, it’s reasonable to assume that what would happen afterwards would involve an ambulance and months of physiotherapy.

3 Responses to “Après-bungee”

I’ve done a few of these – one in Chiang Mai (very low tech) and 3 in New Zealand (home of commercial bungee).

The answer is it varies. They usually winch you down a bit to a boat or terra firma, rather than up. There a waiting team help ease you onto the ground/boat and disconnect you.

At the Nevis – a 154m drop from a suspended platform strung halfway across a large valley, the distances are too great for that so they do winch you back up. However, when you’re bouncing you can pull a pin from somewhere around your ankles which transfers your weight to a harness so that as you dangle you end up in a comfortable sitting position. Very pleasant.

I did my very first (and definitely last!) bungee jump a year or so ago in South Africa and it was, without question the most terrifying thing I’ve ever done in my life…..to date! In answer to the question, you’re left dangling for what seems like hours but is probably only a minute or less, then a dude comes abseiling down to meet you, fiddles with some clips and ropes (was too relieved to still be alive at this point to pay much attention!) then somehow ratchets you to an upright position, at which point some other chaps hoist you back up to the (relative) safety of the jumping platform! You then go in search of a stiff drink! 😉